Dan Stanton

Fractional Counsel – Technology & Manufacturing

“Dan provided outstanding legal advice – technically excellent and commercially astute. I would not hesitate to recommend Dan to other organisations.”

Lily HepworthGeneral Counsel

About Dan

Dan is a specialist commercial lawyer, fractional GC and legal technology consultant. In his legal practice, Dan represents suppliers and purchasers of technologies and advanced manufactured goods with a particular focus on the fintech and software development sectors and the automotive and advanced engineering sectors.

Dan also advises clients on how to deploy and leverage legal technology solutions to maximise impact and oversees the development and implementation of Clearlake’s proprietary technologies which are offered exclusively to the Clearlake client base.

Dan’s Expertise

Dan has significant experience representing software developers and financial technology platforms as well as organisations in the automotive and advanced manufacturing industries.

Dan provides outsourced general counsel, drafts and negotiates commercial agreements including SaaS, PaaS, EULA and clickwrap terms, supply of goods and services agreements, parent company guarantees and many other typical commercial arrangements.

In his technology-focused practice, Dan represents both providers and purchasers, with significant experience in the software development and fintech sectors. He regularly negotiates complex business process outsourcing agreements, intellectual property licensing arrangements and advises on related obligations under UK financial services regulations, data protection regulations and emerging artificial intelligence regulation.

Dan also has longstanding experience advising automotive and advanced manufacturing companies on new commercial agreements, interpreting and varying their existing contracts and supporting with early stage commercial disputes.

Dan spent the first decade of his career in one of the world’s leading corporate law firms advising on large M&A and private equity transactions, which positions him particularly well to advise on corporate transactions, investment rounds and to coordinate mixed corporate and commercial arrangements, for example commercial deals that have a related investment element or joint ventures between strategic partners.

Dan’s Career

From 2006 to 2014, Dan trained and practised as a corporate lawyer specialising in M&A, private equity transactions and general corporate advisory work in a leading international firm, practising in the City of London and New York.

In 2014, he left the City to develop his own independent commercial legal practice. In 2021, Dan founded Clearlake to build a new generation of law firm focussed on providing outstanding service and value to clients and an entirely new and unique working environment for lawyers.

Dan’s Experience

Dan’s most recent legal work includes:

Software-as-a-service – Advising an international fintech SaaS provider on its move from an on-premise deployment model to a cloud deployment model, drafting a full set of template cloud SaaS contracts and negotiating a first cloud-based deal with a large financial institution.

Platform-as-a-service – Advising a well-known fintech business on a series of PaaS deals with a number of large financial institutions around the world, as well as working through the detailed intellectual property licensing arrangements with suppliers sitting behind his client’s advanced platform.

Corporate & commercial – Negotiating a complex series of related commercial and corporate investment agreements on behalf of a financial technology company with a major international financial institution to develop a global technology and financial services partnership.

Joint ventures – Advising a fast-growing FinTech business on a unique commercial and technology partnership with a large British bank.

Supply chain IP – Reviewing a financial platform’s various third party licensing arrangements and onward IP commitments to its customers, ensuring licensing compliance throughout the chain and renegotiating terms with suppliers accordingly alongside the client’s internal procurement team.

Supply chain disputes – Advising a publicly-listed advanced manufacturing organisation and resolving a series of early stage disputes with its suppliers.

Business process outsourcing – Advising a software development company on a complex administration services outsourcing agreement with a large international outsourcing specialist.

Joint venture – Advising on the English law aspects of a large international automotive joint venture between a Chinese conglomerate and a well-known US-based tier-one supplier.

Dan’s Qualifications

The London School of Economics, London, BSc Government, 2003

City University School of Law, London, Graduate Diploma in Law, 2005

BPP Law School, London, Legal Practice Course, 2006

Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales, admitted October 2008

Dan is a practising solicitor, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority in England and Wales, with authorisation number 413202.

“Representing our scale-up fintech business, Dan helped us to lead critical negotiations with multiple blue-chip customers. He was a constructive, commercial negotiator and always gave excellent advice on technical legal points. I would thoroughly recommend Dan to other businesses operating in the fintech space.”

Kirsty WorganGlobal Chief Commercial Officer